Week #73 – More miracles in TJ- May 23rd, 2016

 

This week we saw some miracles!!!

We baptized two people this week! So happy that Ce*** and Ma** made the decision to enter the waters of baptism! So many blessings! In one of the districts that we have been working really hard with every companionship in the district baptized!!! Some companionship’s even had more than one. Is was so great!!! We did a fast a few weeks ago so that everyone could baptize in the district and at the time, they didn’t have ANY baptism dates. The lord answers prayers. After our fast, miracles happened and they had so many investigators move forward and everyone baptized!!! For us Ce*** got baptized which was awesome!! and then Ma**, the mom of Fa*** and Ke*** got baptized!!! That was so great!!! It was great and a super cool experience. Elder Carreto and I did a special musical number at the baptism. It was super spiritual and like half the ward came because they love us so much!!! It was so packed!!!! Our ward mission leader is a super hard worker and he has helped us SO much. He is a great example to me of how I want to be after the my mission!

ROUND 3 WITH ELDER CARRETO!!!

We’re going to be together another transfer! HAHA Elder Carreto is going to be the companion that I have the most time with. We are stoked!! He actually asked the Presidente last week if we could stay together. Crazy stuff. But everything is normal! Our zone had a lot of changes. We are going to get two new district leaders and we are pretty stoked to start fresh, have some new faces, and be able to keep working hard.

We found a great family this week that I think will be baptized in less than a month! We could be going to the temple this week as well because Fa*** is going to go to the temple to do baptisms so that should be good!!!

I’m loving the mission! Everything is flying by so fast. I can’t believe its already summer. Funny story. I felt super stressed out this week, for just everything that is going on in the zone and with the baptisms, and transfer and who knows what. But I was praying a lot to figure out what I could do, and I got the impression to buy new scriptures. It sounds ridiculous, but honestly my scriptures that I brought from home are thrashed. They look like a hurricane of colors with pen ink and TJ dirt and just a bomb had hit them, and I think it stressed me out in the morning because I couldn’t focus in my studies. Anyway I just got a new pair and honestly I could feel the power of the scriptures this week. Just being able to open them the whole room filled with peace. I could see perfectly what I needed to do, where I needed to go, and how I needed to do it. I’m so grateful for the scriptures and most importantly the Book or Mormon! I know the Book of Mormon changes lives. Whatever question we have can be answered with prayer and study from that book.

THANKS FOR EVERYTHING!

Les amo!

Elder Woods

Week #72 – No Time! – May 16th, 2016

Hey Family!!

Miss you tons, sorry I couldn’t send you a email last week. I’m actually rushed for time this week as well because we have a meeting tonight and I don’t have much time to prepare. We’re doing well in the zone and I’m really enjoying my area and companion!

Thank you so much for the articles. I have been reading a ton about motivation as well as leadership and the articles really help. I started printing out talks every single week for everyone in the districts that we go and work with and they have really liked them. Its been cool to see how that has helped.

Thank you so much for your everything!

LOVE YOU TONS!!

Elder Woods

Week #71 – LIVE for the gospel – May 9th, 2016

Hello Family!

Wow, was it so great talking to you guys yesterday. It was so good to see all of you! I could feel your love and support and I’m so grateful for the opportunity I had to talk to you guys!! Hopefully all continues to go well and we can stay strong until DECEMBER!!!

This week in the field we had a lot of challenges. Like I said I have been sick for a while now but hopefully I will be getting better. The doctor told me that I have a parasite, and that’s why I have just felt weak and tried. Mentally as well it was a tough week. I have always felt whenever I get close to being completely consecrated as a missionary, when I get near the top that’s when challenges start to come. But if I can get through those challenges that’s when the blessings come. I think that applies to us in our lives as well.

Our investigators are doing well! We found a guy this week named M** that is really cool. He has had a really tough life. He just moved to TJ from Ensenada. He’s 22 and is really interested in finding out if the church is true. Well better said, if God exists. It has been an interesting experience helping someone else find out if there is a God. It’s really hard, honestly, to get people to act in faith. But being with M** this past week we could really help him to know there is a God, that he loves him, and cares about him. And in doing so, honestly my testimony has grown to be so strong. Being able to help someone else, has helped me have a testimony that is unable to be broken now. My companion and I, in teaching M**, we have been talking about what we would give for the gospel. And of course it comes down to that we would give everything, even our lives. But I was reading a talk this week from Elder Holland, and he was talking about how giving things away for the gospel is easy. What the Lord wants is people that will LIVE for the gospel. People to testify about him, people to sacrifice for him, and people to enjoy the blessings as well. I have come to see how LIVING for the church, and always having the disposition to give all that I have, has helped me be more consecrated as a missionary and as a member of the church.

Our other investigators are doing well! We had a couple lessons in the temple this week which went great and were really spiritual! We should have 2 baptisms this week with Kat****** and Ce***. They are two great people that we have been teaching for a while that we have really helped and are doing well!!

To end I found a cool quote this week! “The average millionaire has made 10,000 good decisions, so be meticulous.” I pondered that, as well as scriptures from the Book of Mormon about how becoming successful comes from making small, but very meticulous, good decisions. Prayer, daily scripture study, and other small good daily decisions really make the difference.

LES AMO!!

Elder Woods

Week #70 – Trust in the Lord – May 2nd, 2016

HELLO FAMILY!!!!!

I’m doing so great. This week was filled with lots of doors, people, some blood, sweat of course, and tears of gratitude for all the blessings of the lord.

I had our zone meeting on Tuesday. It went really well. I spoke about consecration and put a couple cool videos together and talked about the consecration of Jesus Christ and how he consecrates everything. So we as missionaries can easily consecrate 2 years of our life. We may not be asked to give everything, but we should always have the disposition to give everything, at moments notice! To help the missionaries more I did an activity that I did in seminary a few years ago with Brother Tanner. It was like the “anti Nephi-Lehi’s” when they buried their swords to better help them keep the commandments. I told everyone to write down the things that kept them from being obedient and write it on a piece of paper, and then outside the chapel, I had a hole dug and we all put our papers in and they helped cover the hole. After that we had about 10 members from our ward come in and be “fake investigators” We just practiced for a few hours, working on our skills, and finished with a special musical number from some cool Elders. One is from California and the other from Ecuador. I think it went really well!

We knocked a ton of doors this week searching for the elect here in TJ. We found one! She’s a young girl who just got deported from BEAVERTON, Oregon!!! how crazy right? And she was going to church and has had all of the lessons. We didn’t want to rush it so we are going to keep visiting her and see what happens. She works Sunday’s in the street markets so its going to be hard for her to progress because she can’t go to church but we will see what we can do to help her.

Elder Carreto got really sick Friday, so we weren’t able to work Saturday, and Sunday after we took the sacrament we went to the hospital because he still felt really sick. He has an infection in his kidneys. I think its the same think I had a few weeks ago.

I feel like my testimony has grown a ton in these past few weeks. I have really been focusing on having more confidence in the Lord. Really trusting 100% that he has a plan for the people here in TJ, and especially in guiding me to what my role is in helping them. Really trusting in the Lord has helped me have more peace with all the crazy stuff that happens here.

So happy to be able to talk to you guys this Sunday!!!

Love ELDER WOODS

Week #69 – My companion got married!- April 25th, 2016

Hey I don’t have too much time so I’m just going to keep it simple! I have been working all day today on a plan for a zone conference and I wanted to make it cool so I have be doing a PowerPoint presentation for a while and haven’t had time to really focus on writing a good letter. But here are a few highlights over the week.

The work is going well!! Lots of successful opportunities to share the gospel.

Elder Navarette got sealed on Saturday, here in the TJ temple!! He asked about 40 missionaries to go, but Pres Garcia only chose two, and I got chosen! So I got to go to his sealing in the temple…. so weird that he’s married. He finished his mission 3 months ago and he married a girl from the mission.She is actually from Tecate which is a city that is in my zone. The sealing was super cool!! While I was in the sealing my companion got to do a session in the temple, and after I went and did a session. Definitely had an amazing experience being in the temple!

Other than that not to much jazz. I love you guys so much! I hope everything is alright at home!!! MISS YOU ALL LIKE CRAZY!!!

LOVE Elder Woods

Week #68 – Stingray – April 18th, 2016

Hello family!!

Last Tuesday we went to one of the district meetings and all was well, and the Bishop invited us to eat after our meeting. He told us he was making something special! So we started eating and it tasted like tuna, but then he told us it was Monterrey, or “stingray”. HA! So I was stoked, crazy things on the mission right? That joy lasted for about 8 hours. That night was rough…

I then spent the following 3 days in bad, super, super sick. Had to get some crazy injections in my behind from this crazy phamacia lady!  It’s been pretty wild. I’m doing alright.

Because I’ve been sick, the work has been pretty slow figuring that we didn’t leave all week. Nu*** ended up not getting baptized for some complications but we are still teaching her so we are hoping here pretty soon.

Someone came to church yesterday who is from Nayarit who has all the lessons and wants to be baptized! HA! But she is changing houses in 2 weeks so we have to pass the reference on to another companionship.

Family! Hope you guys are doing well! Know you are in my prayers  and thinking about you everyday! I miss you guys tons!

MUCH LOVE FROM TJ

Elder Woods